Places I'm Visiting: Japan 2025 – Birds

Back home after five weeks in Japan, it's taking some time to adjust. On my mind in particular is editing photos from the last two weeks of my trip, which were spent mainly on the small island of Iyo-Oshima, where my wife grew up. One easy bit of organization was finishing a list of the birds I saw on my trip. I ended up with  44 species observed, of which 14 were what we birders refer to as "life birds" – a species observed for the first time in a lifetime. In the list below, those marked with an asterisk were life birds for me. I regret not having been able to get a good shot of the beautiful Narcissus Flycatcher – maybe next time....

Eurasian Tree Sparrow

Oriental Turtle Dove

*White-cheeked Starling

*Azure-winged Magpie

Brown-cheeked Bulbul

Carrion Crow

Large-billed Crow

Meadow Bunting

Coal Tit

*Willow Tit

Long-tailed Tit

*Grey Wagtail

Winter Wren

Eastern Spot-billed Duck

Mallard

Rock Dove

Grey Heron

*Japanese Green Pheasant

White Wagtail

Oriental Greenfinch

*Japanese Wagtail

Varied Tit

Pale Thrush

* Dusky Thrush

Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker

Great Coromorant

* Brown Dipper

Eurasian Teal

Black-eared Kite

Grey Heron

Great White Egret

* Little Grebe

* Japanese Grosbeak

* Ryukyu Minivet

* Japanese Bush Warbler

Blue Rock Thrush

• Masked Bunting

Eurasian Coot

Comon Moorhen

Common Pochard

Tufted Duck

Osprey

* Narcissus Flycatcher